McIntosh College will close

Saturday

Feb 16, 2008 at 2:00 AM

DOVER — McIntosh College, a tradition in town since 1896 will be closing its doors by the end of 2009, much to the dismay of angry and disappointed college trustees who said they were not even contacted directly about the closure.

Karen Dandurant

DOVER — McIntosh College, a tradition in town since 1896 will be closing its doors by the end of 2009, much to the dismay of angry and disappointed college trustees who said they were not even contacted directly about the closure.

Lynne Baker, vice president of corporate communications for Career Education Corporation, the parent company that owns McIntosh, said a decision was made to implement a "teach-out," or a gradual closing process for the school of about 1,000 students.

"We will not be enrolling any new students but will remain open for students who are already enrolled," said Baker. "As the students graduate, we will begin closing down. The process will take another two years or so."

In addition to McIntosh College, Lehigh Valley College and seven campuses that were a part of the Gibbs division will close, including Gibbs Colleges in Cranston, R.I.; Boston; Livingston and Piscataway, N.J.; and Norwalk, Conn. Katharine Gibbs Schools in New York and Norristown, Penn., will also close.

In a news release, Career Education Corp. said that it had been trying to attract viable buyers for the colleges and schools since November 2006 but had been unable to locate any.

McIntosh trustees are angry and saddened by the news.

"That is an absolute shame," said Jack Buckley. "I am very angry and disappointed in their actions. This is a tragedy. McIntosh has been part of the fabric of Dover for over 100 years. To do this to the college is unacceptable."

"A lot of Seacoast people have gone through that school," said Paul Flynn, chairman of the board of trustees. "It has been a staple in the Dover community. We will be very sorry to see it close. It's a sad day for all of us on the board."

Flynn said he had hoped board members would be contacted directly with the news, but he does not believe any board member was contacted with the confirmation. He also said there was a group locally who had hoped to purchase the college, to return local control and help keep it solvent.

"Some of us associated with the trustees have been aware the school was up for sale for close to one year," said Flynn. "It was aggressively listed with a Realtor, and there was interest.

"The trustees are all local so we wanted to see if local control or local ownership was a possibility. We received very little response on those inquiries. CEC may have felt on occasions that they had parties interested in a group of schools rather than one individual college, but they didn't seem interested in selling us the one school."

Board member William Irvine said he is disappointed.

"This is a detriment to the community," said Irvine. "The college has been a gem in this community. I am hoping that something will still be able to occur to keep the college here."

City Manager J. Michael Joyal Jr. said he was glad to hear that CEC was going to follow through with its commitment to current students.

"Many people are doing night school and on weekends, so I am happy that they will be able to finish," said Joyal. "Obviously the history of McIntosh is part of the city. It dates back to the 1890s. At that time, it was a vocational-technical college, focusing on agricultural sciences and business skills. It's been a staple in the community. I think it's disappointing that the corporation feels they have to take this action."

Mayor Scott Myers said anytime a city loses an institution of higher learning it's a loss to the community.

"It means losing an educational opportunity," said Myers. "I don't see anything positive about that. I am at least pleased that the corporation will complete their commitment to those who have invested there, that they will be given the opportunity to finish up."

Myers said the college was well respected for programs such as the police and criminal training, and culinary arts.

"New Hampshire has a high level of hospitality employees and McIntosh was a training ground for the tourism we do so well here."

The college's zoning and location, sitting on the Spaulding Turnpike makes it a prime location for reuse, said Myers.

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